Sunburn
by Black Licorice Addict
Summary: "First of all, that is quite possibly the most disturbing way I've ever heard a relationship be described." Red Arrow finds out about Wally and Artemis and is determined to talk some sense into the speedster. Set during "You'd Be North."


**A/N: This is what happens when the authors of my favorite Young Justice stories don't update; I get too many ideas. This takes place after the third chapter of my other story "You'd Be North." Don't worry, it's not a song fic, but it was partially inspired by the song "Never Let You Go." **

* * *

><p><strong>Sunburn<strong>

_But I still feel you pulsing like sonar_

_From the days and the waves._

_That girl is like a sunburn I would like to save._

_She's like a sunburn. She's like a sunburn._

_-Third Eye Blind_

Red Arrow sometimes wished he hadn't gone solo. Don't get him wrong, it's not that he doesn't love his independence, and he certainly doesn't miss reporting to his mentor. It's just that private Justice League news now took longer to reach him considering he had cut off quite a bit of his proverbial grapevine. Not to mention he and Green Arrow weren't exactly going out of their way to talk to each other. Well, that was a lie; GA regularly called him and left him messages. Roy just chose to ignore all league messages—unless they were from Black Canary. He always tried to return those calls. It was probably a good thing he was still speaking to her, or he might have been completely out of the loop when it came to gossip about the young justice team.

"Superboy is really coming along," Black Canary responded to Red Arrow's inquiry, her cell phone between her cheek and shoulder as she rummaged through her purse. "Robin apparently did something to his music player, and I guess the new music just has this calming affect on him."

Roy heard the rustle of items on the other line. "Going somewhere?" he asked as he walked down the busy sidewalk.

"Dress shopping, actually," came Black Canary's reply. "I'll never know how Megan managed it. Probably blackmailed Artemis, poor thing."

Roy stopped walking, causing a few rushed passerbys to shoot him dirty looks. He didn't care. "You're going dress shopping with Megan and Artemis?" he deadpanned.

"I think that's what I just said," Black Canary replied carefully, not liking the tone Roy was using at the mention of the blonde archer.

"What, she can't afford to get a new dress but she can afford Gotham Academy?" he bit out angrily, continuing his march down the street.

"Roy," Black Canary's tone was sharp now. "I will not have you badmouthing that girl. You have no idea what she's gone through to get where she is now."

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea."

"This matter isn't open for discussion, Roy." Dinah's tone was final.

Roy thought about hanging up, but Dinah was like a mother to him, and not being able to talk to her was not a situation he wanted to be in. So he tried a different approach. "What's the occasion?"

"Artemis is going to her first school dance," the pleasant tone was back. "They put her on the decoration committee, so she can't get out of attending. Megan apparently raided Artemis's closet last week and couldn't find anything appropriate. And of course, Artemis flat out refused to go shopping for something new, so Megan asked for my help. But I think the martian just ended up blackmailing her."

"What kind of blackmail?" Roy tried to keep the suspicion out of his voice. He heard Black Canary's musical laugh through the phone.

"I think it had something to do with an embarrassing photo of Artemis and Wally. Whatever she did, it worked. Who would've thought Megan would be so…conniving?"

Roy tried not to sound too disappointed. "That's it? I bet Wally wasn't happy."

"He didn't seem to mind too much. Actually, I think he may have given Megan the picture." Roy could almost see her smiling on the other line. Then something clicked.

"Why would Wally willingly give up an embarrassing photo of him and Artemis?" his suspicious tone was back.

"Oh, I don't think it was that embarrassing to him. It was probably from that date when he took her to the state fair and dragged her into a photo booth."

Surely he had heard wrong. "I'm sorry, Dinah, did you say Wally went on a DATE with Artemis?" Roy could hear faint background talk from the other line that sounded like Green Arrow.

"_Because I need the platinum card,"_ Roy heard Dinah whisper to Ollie before distractedly replying, "Yes, Roy. They've been dating for several months now. _No, Ollie, I don't want the express card…"_

Dinah's voice was joined by Ollie's and a new female voice in the background cheerfully shouting "_Black Canary!"_ Roy barely registered the garbled conversations coming through his cell phone. His mind had frozen in shock and disbelief. There was no freaking way Wally would touch that chick with a ten foot pole!

"Are you sure, Dinah? This _is_ Wally we're talking about, right?" Obnoxious, rational, Artemis-hating Wally.

He heard Black Canary give an agitated sigh on the other line, but he wasn't sure if it was directed at him or Green Arrow. "Yes, Roy, I'm very certain. I'm going to have to call you back. Megan is here, and Ollie is being…difficult." Roy snorted. "Talk to you later. Love you."

"Bye," came Red Arrow's muttered reply. Roy snapped his phone shut and glared at it as though it were responsible for being the bearer of bad news.

Because seriously, Wally was the most logic-minded, nerdy teenage boy Roy knew (apart from Robin). Sure, he was also a teenager with hormones, but Wally knew better than to get mixed up with a girl like Artemis.

And why didn't he know about this sooner? Hadn't he, Dick, Kaldur, Conner, and Wally all had a guy's gaming night at Roy's apartment over a month ago? The subject had never even come up! Even Wally's teammates didn't say a word. Hell, Roy thought Wally still harbored the same angry feelings toward the blonde archer since the day she arrived. Wally had never indicated otherwise.

Roy could feel the anger swelling up inside. Wally probably didn't mean to leave him out of the loop, but somehow it still felt like a betrayal of their friendship. And why hadn't Robin or Kaldur tried to talk Wally out of it? Surely they could see Artemis had bad news written all over her?

There was only one thing to do: Roy was going to sit down with the speedster and get to the bottom of this. He glanced down at his watch. It would be almost two hours before Wally was done with class. Roy flipped open his phone once more, pushing a series of buttons before shutting it again. It was several minutes before it vibrated, alerting the archer his message had been received. It was just a matter of waiting now.

* * *

><p>Roy glanced up from his paper when he heard the bell hanging from the door move. This time, it was Wally who walked through the entrance, nodding in acknowledgement at Red Arrow before going to the counter to order coffee.<p>

"What's with the ominous message, Roy? 'We need to talk. Meet me at Moondollar's Café in Boston at 4.' I feel like you're about to order a hit on me," Wally joked as he sat down in front of the archer. He was clearly not bothered at all by the scowl that seemed to make Roy's face its permanent home.

"What's up with you and Artemis?" Roy asked, not bothering for pleasantries.

Wally immediacy spit out the sip of coffee he'd just taken, causing surrounding bystanders to scoot away from his line of fire. "Excuse me?" he choked out. Was he seriously about to have this conversation with Roy?

"Don't avoid the subject!" Roy bit out angrily. "Why didn't you tell me you were dating _her_? I thought we were friends! I thought you knew she was bad news! You never use to even acknowledge her unless it was absolutely necessary. And you always complained about her! What the hell, Wally? How did this happen?" Roy demanded.

"It's kind of hard to explain," Wally told Roy as he struggled for the right words. He hadn't realized the archer would be so upset. Come to think of it, he never officially told Roy he was dating Red Arrow's nemesis (as least, as far as Green Arrow was concerned). He just assumed Roy had found out like everyone else: through Justice League gossip. Wally was regretting that assumption and could only imagine the hurt he had caused (not to mention the Bro Code violations).

"I'm waiting," came Roy's frosty voice.

"Well…It was kind of like a…sunburn. Yeah, a sunburn!" Wally wondered where that idea came from, but he mentally congratulated himself on coming up with such a random comparison. It was one of the few tactics that worked well on Roy: confuse the archer to diffuse his anger.

"Do enlighten me," Red Arrow remarked sarcastically, crossing his arms.

Wally took a deep breath, mentally preparing for the crackpot speech he was about to give. "Well, you usually get sunburned doing something you love, right? Like being out at the beach or camping. You know, outdoorsy stuff? You don't even realize you're sunburned until you're on your way home. Something barely brushes up against it, and suddenly you're acutely aware it's there. And then you're like, 'Crap!' because it relentlessly burns your skin. And you try fixing it with aloe, but that's never enough to get rid of the pain. So you try wearing different things to not irritate the spot, and you forget it's there after awhile until something bumps it and reminds you that it's still a problem. Eventually, the pain dulls and goes away, but it's even more annoying because it itches now, and in some ways the itching is even worse than the pain. Except now you can put the aloe on, and it actually starts to help. Gradually everything peals off, and you find this awesome tan underneath. And at the end of it all, you think, 'Hey, maybe this isn't so bad.'"

Roy sat there for several minutes, stunned into silence. At length, he spoke. "First of all, that is quite possibly the most disturbing way I've ever heard a relationship be described." Wally snorted. "And secondly, you should remember that sunburns lead to skin cancer, which we both know is very, VERY UNHEALTHY."

Well damn. Roy was still angry and was now turning Wally's comparison against him. He should have seen that one coming, but Wally wasn't going to give Roy the satisfaction of winning the argument. "Good thing I always wear sunscreen then."

"Your metaphor still sucks, Kid."

"It's a simile, and I guess I should have thought it through a little better." Wally decided to switch tactics and sighed. "Artemis is always telling me that I need to think things through."

Roy raised his eyebrows. "Artemis tells you that?"

Wally shrugged. "More like shouts it. All. The. Time. Sometimes in Vietnamese. She tells me other stuff too."

Roy was about to ask what else Artemis told Wally off for, but he caught himself just in time. He was here to make his friend see the light, not agree with the crap Artemis called Wally out on. "You're changing the subject again. What made you even BEGIN to think this was a good idea?"

"Uhh…Kent Nelson told me to?"

"So now you're taking advice from a mystic tin hat?"

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"Where's the logic in this?" Roy demanded, trying to appeal to the rational side of Wally's thinking.

Wally sighed. "There isn't any logic to it, Roy. I can't explain it, and I sure as hell can't stop it."

Roy's eyes widened. "That bad?"

"You have no idea. But the thing is… I don't really want to stop it."

"What does the team have to say about this?"

"They're fine with it," Wally shrugged. "We still fight and argue on a regular basis, so it really didn't change the dynamic all that much. Except for the kissing," a dopy smile grew across Wally's face as Roy made a noise of disgust in the back of his throat. "That was definitely an improvement."

"So, you still fight with her all the time?" Roy deadpanned. "Are you sure you even _like_ her, Kid? Maybe this whole thing is just your hormones going AWOL."

Wally's eyes flashed dangerously, and Roy was momentarily afraid that he might have crossed some invisible line. "Look, I can't tell you the exact moment I realized I _liked_ her. Hell, I was dating her for months and didn't even know it!" Roy snorted at that. It was just like Wally to be oblivious. "But I do know that I almost blew the whole thing, and it was at that point I realized how much she really meant to me, and whatever we had—I couldn't risk losing it."

Roy sat in silence, thinking about everything Wally told him. As much as he hated to admit he was wrong, Roy could see that there was no changing Wally's mind. He was almost as stubborn as Ollie's new sidekick, and in that respect Roy could see how their dislike for each other eventually turned to attraction. They were both so similar; it was inevitable that their love-hate relationship culminate into the present situation. Red Arrow could only hope for everything to work out, and that Artemis wouldn't break his friend's heart. It was out of his hands now.

Eventually, Wally broke the silence. "You know, Freud said that love was a good psychosis," the speedster joked.

The archer rolled his eyes, his humor slowly returning to him. "I don't know about that. I've had one too many doses of infatuation to agree. Besides, Freud is a creep."

Wally nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and he probably made it up."

The silence was back, but it wasn't uncomfortable like before. Roy waited for Wally to swallow down the last of his coffee before asking, "Do you love her, Kid?"

Wally was glad Roy waited for him to finish his before asking _that_ question. He slowly set the empty cup down before responding uncertainly. "I…don't know. Maybe? I mean, I like her more than any girl I've ever been with. But we haven't been together _that_ long. And we're not even sixteen yet. How do you even know something like _that_?"

Roy chuckled, stood up, and ruffled his friend's hair in an affectionate manner. "Trust me Kid, you'll know."

Wally stood up to leave as well, giving him the secret handshake he, Roy, and Dick invented years ago. "Don't be a stranger," Wally told the archer.

"I won't. Take care, Wally," Roy replied, watching as the speedster walked out of sight, no doubt getting ready to launch himself into sonic speeds.

Roy caught a blur out of the corner of his eye and sighed. Well, Operation Knock Sense into Wally failed, but it wasn't as bad as Red Arrow thought it would be. Wally was smarter than most people gave him credit for, and Roy just had to have faith that the kid knew what he was doing. And really, Roy couldn't tell Wally to NOT date Artemis, especially not considering who he was currently seeing.

The archer kicked a rock off the sidewalk into the street, feeling oddly miserable. Wally would be mad at him if he told Artemis to stop dating his friend, but that didn't mean Roy couldn't _threaten_ her with all sorts of horrible endings if she hurt Wally. Roy smiled, already mentally preparing the speech he would give Artemis, running through a list of possible tortures he could mention.

Granted, Artemis wouldn't take him seriously, but it would still make Roy feel better. Humming a tune from a song Dick stuck on his mp3 player, Red Arrow happily shuffled to the nearest zeta tube.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, even though this story takes place in my "You'd Be North" series, it doesn't really focus on Artemis and Kid Flash's interaction with each other, so I decided to post it as a separate story. It is just a oneshot, so you don't need to alert it...unless you're paranoid and like to be thorough when going through the fanfiction options at the bottom... Supermegakudos if you know where the "Freud said that love was a good psychosis" reference came from. Seriously. You rock my socks. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed it :)**


End file.
